Parachute pack



J. M.` RUSSELL May 7, 1929.

PARAGHUTE PACK Filed oct. 25, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet l 31a/vento@ May 7, 1929.

J. M. RUSSELL PARACHUTE PACK b2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed oct. 25, 1926 Patented May 7, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES M. RUSSELL, OF SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO RUSSELL PARACHUTE COMPANY, OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A COltlttfllltl.m

TIoN oF DELAWARE.

PARACHU'I'E PACK.

Application led October 25, 1936. Serial No. 143,938.

This invention relates to parachute packs such as are carried by the aviator.

The improvements ot the present invention are directed toward the provision of a parachute pack in which all dancer of the entanglement of various parts of the parachute is avoided. and wherein the construction enables the 'packing ot the parachute so as to give the pack a snug, trim form.

`With the foregoing objects in veiw the invention provides a liat front piece of the container and a back piece having iiexible side extensions which are connected to the front piece so as to hold a parachute therebetween. rlhe front piece is attached to the aviators harness and the invention is shown as relatinfrr to a seat pack on which the aviator sits when he is in the airplane. The `front piece of the parachute container is free of obstructions at its edges and the sides ot the parachute pack are formed as extensions of the back piece so that the entire container may he removed when the aviator pulls upon the rip cord, thus leaving nothing to hinder the release of the parachute from the front piece ot' the pack.

Further provisions ot the pack are lacing flaps provided on the side extensions so that the sides of the pack may1 be drawn up and the pack compressed after the parachute has been folded in place within the pack. The front piece of the pack is adapted to be worn against the aviator and atI its front are locking cones near its corners to which the side extensions of the back piece are detachably lastened, A lite preserving cushion is detachably fastened to the front of the pack so that it` may be easily removed. and this cushion is ot a lcneral horseshoe shape so that it ma7 be placed about the aviator's neck in case he should tall in the 'atei'. and thus keep his tace above the water. This cushion is adapted to function as a seat between thepack and tl c aviator. and to give a neat and trim appearance and torni to the front ot t-he pack where the overlappinf,r of the flaps and the pull cord and locking cones are provided.

HWith the above and other objects ofthe invention in view as will be made to appear in the acconipanyinp Ispecil'ication and claims, reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a view of the front piece of the pack showing its outer side.

Figa 2 is ay central section thru the front piece as shown in Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a View of the inside of the back piece of the container.

Fig. t shows the outer side of the back of the parachute pack.

Fig 5 is a side view ot the assembled pack and cushion Fig 6 is a back view of the pack and cushion Fig. 7 is a. plan view of the pack, showing part. of the cushion broken away to disclose the top of the pack. I

Fig. 8 is a view of t-he assembled pack and harness without the cushion.

Fig. 9 shows the manner in which the pack is worn on the back of the aviator and shows the back piece removed and the shroud lines retained in thc Jfront piece of the pack, and

Fig. 10 is a plan view of the cushion.

Referring' more particularly to the drawings by reference numerals. the parachute container is shown as consistingA ot the front piece 1 of substantially rectangular forni, and4 the flexible fabric back piece 2, the side ei;- tensions 3 of which are adapted to forni the sides of the pack. The front piece 1 is of non-flexible construction and is reterably formed of a frame4 covered with abrio and provided with stifteuing' members at suitable points to maintain the rectangular shape et the pack. The parachute harness designated generally 4 has a lower end loop 5 which is Jfastened by the short strips of canvas tl to the i'ront piece 1 at its outer side.

The troutv piece 1 is so connected to the harness l that the pack may serve as a. seat for the aviator. The legar strips 'l' of the harness and the lower loop 5 thus fasten the fronti piece fast to the harness in its proper position. Shroud line retainers 8 and t) are provided on the inner side ot the front piece in the torm ot a fabric strip 'fastened to the front piece at the points 10 so as to relcasably hold the looped ends ot the shroud lines in place as shown in Fig. 9. rlthe parachute is placed in folded arrangement over the front piece l and the back piece 2 is then placed over the parachute and so folded alone; the lines l1 and 12 that thc side extensions il torni the sides et the pack. rl`hese side extensions are provided with end portions 13 and 14 which are folded `over the edges ot the front piece and in front of the same. and grommets 15 provided in the ends of these end portions are placed over lockin cones 16 which project forwardly from t e front piece 1 at its corners.

A bellows corner is provided by means of 5 the projections 17 which extend laterally from the front and rear sides ofthe back portion by attaching the sides 18 to the sides 19 on theadjacent side portions 3.

The lift webs 20 which are connected to the parachute shroud lines, enter the pack at the back and a cut out portion 21 as provided at the back end portion 1i as shown in Fig. 3. It will be apparent that the entire flexible back portion of the parachute container is formed of a single sheet of fabric which is cut as shown in Fig. 3 and as previously described so that it may be folded into a rectangular box-like form and thus produce a neat and trim pack. The side extensions 3 are each provided with lacing flaps 22 arranged in pairs 25 vides a means for easily placing the parachute and fastened to the outer sides thereof so that the side edges of the pack may be compressed by drawing up on t-he lacing means 28 which lace the flaps 22 together. rlhis proin position and of thereafter tightening or compressingr the entire pack so as to give a neat and tr1m appearance without obstructtion whic way the surfaces of the back porare in contact with the parachute. The outer side of the back ortion of the ack, as shown in Fig. 4, is provided with webing 24 at the corners and strips of webbing 25`extending along the back so as to protect ing in anyl 35, the fabric of the back ortionfromwear ter the flexible wire casing 28 and the two wire casings 28 meet at the point 29 where casing at the point 29 since the casing 30 is not they are fastened to the pull cord housing 80. The two wire branches extend thru the casing 30 and are attached to the pull rin 31 which is releasably held in place on the arness in a suitable ocket in' the customary manner. At the l ings 28 and 30 join, vis attachedA a webbing strip 32 which is sewed fast to the inside of the back portion 2 at 83 and slidably held by the short attachments 34 to this back portion. It will thus be apparent that when the pull cord T51 is jerked yby the aviator, when he wishes to release the parachute, the pull cord branches 26 and 27 will be released from the locking cones and these branches will then j am in the sufficiently large to permit the branch extensions to pass thru all at the same time. Since the casing 30 is not held fast to the harness, the pull exerted on the ring 31 aft-er releasing the locking, cones, will forcibly pull back 2 int 29 where the wire casand webbing 32 which will thus bc manually and forcibly pulled off. of the pack. Since the front port1on 1 of the container is free of obstructions at its edges, the parachute will be forcibly pulled awa from the front portion when the back of th will then be immediately released and fallout of t-he back portion of the pack. The use of the unsatisfactory and unreliable rubbers to cause the opening of the pack is, therefore, unnecessary and the opening of the pack and release of the parachute is fully assured.

In order to protect the locking concs and lthe portions of the pull cord wires which en gage them, extension rotector flaps 35 are provided on the extensions 1i of the back of the container. These protector flaps each fold over a locking cone, as shown in Fig. 7, and are provided with a snap fastener 36 which engages with the fastening means 37 so as to releasalbly hold them in place.

The front portion 1 of the parachute coutainer is provided with four snap fasteners 38 projecting forwardly therefrom to which a life preserving cushion 39 is adapted to be detachably fastened by means of snap fasteners 40 provided in the face of the cushion. This cushion is referably of wedge shape as shown, and is ofpsuch a size as to neatly cover the entiretop of the pack. It is placed in position between the pack and the aviator so as to serve as a cushion on which he may sit. It further functions as a protector for the top of the pack where the fla'ps of the back portion are overlapped. -Thc cushion is rovided with an opening 41 which is slig itly larger than the neck of a man and the cushion is substantially horseshoe shaped so that it may be laced about the aviators neck. It is filled with kapok or other suitable life preserving material, or with air, so that it may act as a life preserver in case the aviator falls in water. In the case of such a happening, the aviator would immediately and quickly release the cushion from the front portion to which it is attached and place 1t around his neck and thus be able to keep his face above the water.

Altho my invention has been shown as aplicableto a seat type pack and in its rcerred form the front portion is of a nonexible character and the entire back portion of the container is of a flexible nature, I am aware that various changes and modifications of my invention may be made without departing from the spirit or scope thereof as set forth in the following claims.

`I claim:

1. Ina parachute pack, a container comprising a front piece, a back piece having extensions which connect to the front piece. said front and back pieces adapted to hold a parachute therebetween, means for fasten-- ing said extensions to the front piece, and a manually operable pull cord connected to said e pack is removed, and

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`the back piece to be bodily removed means and said back piece to piece to be bodily removed.

2. `A parachute pack adapted to be worn by an aviator, comprising a flat front piece connected to the aviators harness and to be worn adjacent the aviator, a flexible back piece having extensions which'overlap the front piece, said front and back pieces adapted to hold a parachute therebetween, means for fastening said extensions in place, and a manually operable device connected to said means and said back piece to permit the back permit the back Y piece to be bodily removed.V

3. In a parachute pack adapted to be worn by an aviator, a container comprising a nonlexible front piece connected to the aviators harness so as to be worn adjacent the aviator, a flexible back piece having side extensions which overlap and connect to the front piece, said front and back pieces adapted to hold a parachute therebetween, means for fastening said extensions to the front piece, and a manually operable device connected to said back piece to permit the lback piece to be bodily removed.

d. In a parachutepack adapted to be worn by an aviator, a container comprising a nontlexible rectangular front piece fixed to the aviators harness so as tovbe Worn adjacent the aviator, a back piece having flexible side extensions which overlap and connect to the front piece, said front and back pieces adapted to hold a parachute therebetween, means for fastening said extensions in place, and a device lixed to said back piece to permit the back piece to be manually removed,

5. In a parachute pack adapted to be worn by an aviator, a container comprising a flat substantially rectangular front piece connected to the aviators harness so as to be worn adjacent the aviator, a flexible back piece having side extensions which connect to the front piece, said front and back pieces adapted to hold a parachute therebetween, locking cones on said front ieee for attachment to said extensions, an a manually operable pull cord connected to said back piece and releasably engaging said cones to ermit liy the aviator, said front piece eingree of obstructions at its edges to permit` the easy rc moval of the parachute. l

'6. A parachute pack adapted to beworn by an aviator, comprising a non-fiexible Hat substantially rectangular front piece xed to the aviators harness, a flexible back piece having exible side extensions which connect to the `front piece, said front and backpieces adapted to hold a parachutel therebetween, means tor fastening said extensions in place and a device connected to said means and said back piece to permit the back piece to be bodily removed, said front piece being free of olo-` structions at its edges to permit the easy removal ofthe parachute, and having flexible shroud line retainers thereon to releasably retain the looped ends of the shroud lines on said front piece.

7. In a parachute pack adapted to be Worn by an aviator, a container comprising a flat front piece, a back piece having lexible side extensions which connect to the front piece,

said front and back pieces adapted to hold a parachute therebetween, locking cones on said front piece projecting forwardly to re leasably engage said extensions, a pull cord in -t'ront of the front piece for retaining said extensions on said locking cones, said pull cord being attached to said back piece to per mit the back piece to be manually removed after the release of said locking cones.

8. A. parachute pack as set ierth in claim 1, said extensions having lacing means for drawing up the sides of the pack.

9. A parachute pack as set forth in claim l, and means to compress the pack after it has been assembled about the parachute.

l0. In a parachute pack as set forth in claim 3, lacing means on said extensions for draw ing up the said extensions after they have been connected to the front piece.

1l. A parachute cover having front, back and side portions, fastening means for said portions, and additional compressing means forming a part of said side portions for com.- pressing the saine after the parachute has been placed therein.

12. A parachute cover adapted to contain a parachutev and to be worn by an aviator, comprising a flat nondiexible front portion to form one tace of the parachute pack, an outer portion having flexible side extensions, locking cones adjacent the corners on the outer face. of said front portion to which said side extensions are releasably fastened, a pull cord having branches engaging said cones, and lacing flaps on the said side extensions adapted to be laced together to compress the pack after the assembly of the same. f

13. In combination, a parachute pack adapted to be worn by an aviator, and a life preserving cushion astened thereto and serie ing as a cushion between the aviator and the pack, and a series et' releasable fastening means attaching the cushion to the pack so that the cushion may be separated from the pack merely by a pull on the cushion.

14. In combination, a parachute pack adapted to be worn by an aviator, harness straps externally positioned on one side of the pack, and a soft cushion detachably'connected to the pack in place between the avia tor and said one side of the pack.

'15. In combination, a parachute pack adapted to be worn by an aviator and to serve as a seat, a harness attached to said pack and provided with leg straps, and a soft cushion detachably connected to the pack in place between the aviator and the pack, said cushion having one side open at its center porilo Winrar tion to provide an opening through which said leg` strap may extend, and a series of releasable fastening means for attaching the cushion to the pack so that the cushion may be released merely by a pull on the cushion.

16. A parachute cover comprising a front piece, a back piece. means for rcleasably fastcninjrY the front piece to the back piece, means for quickly releasing said fastening means, andadditional means to draw said front and back pieces closer together after they have been releasably fastened together by said Erst-mentioned means to compress a para.- chute between the front and back pieces.

17. In combination, a parachute pack adapted to be Worn by an aviator, closure means for the pack, release means for said closure means extending along the side of the pack which is adjacentthe aviator, and protective means for said release means, said protective means comprisingr a soft cushion positioned between the aviator and the said side. of the pack, and means for releasably connecting the cushion to the pack.

18. In combination, a seat type parachute pack adapted to be Worn by an aviator, a harness tor fasteningr the cushion to the avia'tor, a seat cushion between the aviator and the pack, and a series of releasable fastening means attaching the cushion to the pack so that the cushion may be separated from the pack merely by a pull on the cushion.

19. In a parachute pack and harness assembly of the class described, a parachute container .comprising two portions adapted to be connected together, release means for releasably fastening said portions together, a hand-operated member connected to said release means, guide means for said release means said guide means being loosely associated nith said harness and attached to one of said portions, said guide means aml release means beingr arranged to transmit a pull on the release means to the guide means for the manual 'forcible opening of said container.

Q0. In a parachute pack and harness assembly ot the class described. a parachute container comprisingr two separate portions adapted to be connected together, release means for releasably fastening said portions together, a hand-operated member connected to said release means, `ruide means for said release means loosely associated with said harness and attached to one of said portions` said release means beineY arranged to engage with said guide means after the release. of said portions for forcibly separating said one portion t rom the other.

2l. In a parachute pack as set forth in claim l. a strip of flexible material connected to the pull cord and extendingY from one end of the pack along' the inside of the back piece and connected thereto adjacent the other end of the pack to form a connection between the back 'piece and the pull cord.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this letth day of October, 1926.

. JAMES M. RUSSELL. 

